Who’s hunting turkeys in Nebraska? A walk through the numbers

Chris Chizinski, Matt Gruntorad
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
August 15, 2022

Partial funding from FW-23-R, administered by NGPC

Nebraska’s seasons

  • Two seasons
    • Spring: 1 male or bearded female per permit
    • Fall: 2 turkeys per permit
  • Spring is the the most popular season
    • Permits: 80.3%
    • Individuals: 68.8%

The numbers

The Pandemic

Coefficient P value Odds ratio Effect Size
COVID-19 outbreak affected spring turkey hunt 1.40 <0.001 4.07 Medium
COVID-19 effect on precautions taken 0.66 <0.001 1.93 Medium
COVID-19 effect on overall satisfaction −0.81 <0.001 0.45 Small
COVID-19 effect on pre-season planning 0.90 <0.001 2.45 Small
COVID-19 onset affected plans 1.50 <0.001 4.44 Medium
COVID-19 reason to not hunt 1.52 0.02 4.57 Medium

Hunters from all over

Churn rates

Sporadic purchases

R3 Type by year

Demography

Wrap up

  • Turkey hunting is a big draw both in state and out of state

  • Pandemic affected turkey hunting participation - still being felt

  • Turkey hunters are a lot like many other types of hunters

  • Changes may be coming!

email:cchizinski2@unl.edu twitter:@chrischizinski

humandimensions.unl.edu